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Putting Your Capital on ICE

NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- When a smaller company takes over a larger company the synergies can be exponential.

That's exactly what I'm anticipating when
IntercontinentalExchange(ICE - Get Report) completes its acquisition of
NYSE Euronext(NYX) sometime in the second half of this year.

Earlier Tuesday, NYX reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat analyst estimates after the company cut costs. Net income fell 75% to $28 million from $110 million a year earlier, the New York-based company said in a statement. Yet, these results don't really matter as they normally would.

That's because the price of NYX shares are tied to ICE, which reports Wednesday. The analyst consensus for ICE is a drop of 1 cent per share in quarterly year-over-year earnings and a 1.6% drop in revenue. That said, the mantra on the Street is "ICE is nice because ICE is twice," meaning its impending acquisition of NYX and all its plans and benefits.

One of those benefits will include the growing value of NYX between now and when ICE completes the takeover. In a Jan. 24 interview with the
Wall Street Journal, NYX CEO Duncan Niederauer revealed plans to spin off its Euronext division.

Euronext is the European electronic stock-exchange business that operates markets in Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and Lisbon. The spinoff was outlined as part of the $8.2 billion transaction announced last month between ICE and NYX. The spinoff has an important goal.

It will, according to the newspaper, help to "...allay potential concerns that exchanges managed from afar could diminish the influence of European financial hubs, hurting their ability to control jobs and other aspects of the business."

During its conference call, NYX reiterated something first mentioned in a Jan. 31
Wall Street Journal article, that a side deal NYX reached with ICE could prevent a competing bid from arising.

Under the deal, NYSE's European derivatives unit, known as Liffe, agreed to clear its trades through IntercontinentalExchange for at least two years, the newspaper reported, citing unnamed sources. The deal will remain valid regardless of whether the merger with IntercontinentalExchange closes.